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March 14, 2008

Comments

Bill

You didn't mention the recent (last season) South Park episode where it was proven that
Bono is the biggest piece of crap in the world ... LITERALLY!

scruss

You know that if you play 'How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb' backwards, you hear Bono giving complete and easy to follow instructions on how to build one?

Doug

Bono may not have done a benefit for Santorum, but he did hang with Jesse Helms. Just google "bono jesse helms" and you find a lot of references. I think it's hilarious that Helms said of Bono "There is no pretense about him." Shows how out of touch with reality he was.

My personal favorite U2 bashing was from McSweeney's (Postcards from "The Edge"):
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2006/10/20malla.html

utm

Negativland and U2 may have their differences but they aren't as mired in enmity as you might think. It was the overzealous lawyers/labels supposedly protecting their so-called "intellectual property" that really waged that battle. From an interview between Mark Hosler, Don Joyce and The Edge in Mondo 2000 posted on Negativland's website:

The Edge: I know you've really taken a kicking and I'm really sorry about how it's all come out, Island Records hasn't been affected, but we have gotten so much shit in the media about all this, and it's really annoying.

Don Joyce: That's what I think, and that's why it was really, from your band's perspective, a totally wrong move that the label took.

The Edge: Yeah.

A Chair

The Tanzanian press conference one seemed to smell a little John Stossel-y. Then I read a little more on 'The American' and found that it's little more than The New Republic pandering to the Utne crowd.

Norm

Of course u2 are pretentious assholes.
Their guitarist insists on being called "The Edge".
What more proof do you need?

Said Shirazi

I hope no one minds if I plug my own somewhat dated Bono-bashing bit here:

http://www.habitsofwaste.wwu.edu/issues/3/iss3art2a.shtml

Sad Sack

I'm not a fan of U2 but it always annoys me when people have to hate something. Why can't you just listen to your Negativeland Land music and let those who like U2 listen to their music? If you disagree with their politics, then discuss the issues. Making it personal is childish. The whole purpose of Kurt's posting was just to dump some hate, and then more haters came out and piled on. I hope you all grow up some day.

Ed

Their biggest hypocrisy, imho, was when their corporation left Ireland for the Netherlands to get a better tax rate. Never mind that Ireland uses some of it's tax dollars to saving the African children Bono cares so much about as he drives to his mansion in his Maserati. Nice.

Austin

Kurt seems to think that celebrities should not express political opinions. I disagree. The problem with Bono is not that he has political opinions, but that his opinions are vacuous and potentially harmful. The very fact that the "investment vs. aid" argument caught him off guard shows how shallow his thinking is. Someone once said of Charlie Chaplin, "His problem is that he thinks that he has deep thoughts." That is even more true of Bono.

Rev. Syung Myung Me

On the topic of the 180 Gs, I actually did an interview with David Minnick, the founder of the group here, and I dug it. Not much on the U2 side of things, but hey.

As for the Mondo 2000 interview; I don't take that as evidence. Firstly, U2 never came through with the money promised, and at a 2004 conference, Mark was giving a speech and REM's manager mentioned that it was his fault they got sued (to which, Mark shouted "YOU MOTHERFUCKER!", which is a perfectly understandable exclamation). His story (whether or not it's true -- though prior to this, Negativland HAD tracked down the source of the original copy in the lawsuit as having been sold in Athens, GA): U2 and REM were friends, and U2'd heard about the Negativland Single. They, through their manager, asked REM's manager to pick up a copy for them. He complied, thinking (or so he says) "Oh, they just want to have a copy for their collection, to laugh over and whatnot", and soon after, the lawyers came out.

... which, you know, I guess would explain why U2 never stopped "Island" from suing, nor came through on their offer to loan/give Negativland money to cover court costs. But it didn't stop them from basically ripping Negativland off wholesale for Zoo TV...

...so, you know, basically, fuck U2.

(and for the record, even though I'd still disagree with them, I'd have way, way more respect for them had they just come out and said "We really do think Negativland was in the wrong to make their sleeve look like that and use the 30-second sample". Instead, they did this whole playing-both-sides-of-the-fence thing of secretly being the instigators of the lawsuit while publicly going "OH NO THIS IS HORRIBLE! SORRY THAT WE WON'T ACTUALLY DO ANYTHING TO STOP IT THOUGH!! OUR HANDS ARE TIED!! DON'T THINK THAT PART THROUGH AT ALL, THOUGH!!")

boil

I've been agonizing over whether to go to the movie too, and I still might, because it sounds like amazing visuals worth the admission. But if I put it off long enough, it'll go away, and then I won't have to agonize over giving money to U2!. Win-win! It's a slam dunk!

Dickbrain

To be fair, Stephen Harper is a horrible, charisma-less, uber-conservative douchebag that hates gays, art, poor people, and people with aspirations of any sort, so being cold-dissed by him is, if anything, a validation of U2.

waylon solos

i am a fan of u2 AND negativeland, which for a cool guy like me is a pretty daring stance to take. bono is definitely a douche bag and always has been (but so are a WHOLE LOT of other great performers, lest we forget). u2 have always been a good band but they really haven't put out a solid album since... achtung baby, and it astounds me that their fame continues to grow. for me, the thing that really ruined u2 was when they played the 2002 superbowl halftime "tribute" to the victims of 9/11. that was a propaganda event on par with a nuremberg nazi rally. it gave me the shivers. now i see bono "chilling" with oprah and al gore and i just wanna barf. i think we know what your real priorities are mr. hewson--making mega money and staying mega famous--africa be damned!

patrock

I remember reading that "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" by U2 was playing as Joey Ramone passed away ....I just though, couldn't he have just asked someone to turn it off?

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